Much has been written of the widening gap between the power elite and the working class in America over the past three decades. But, as journalist Bill Bishop writes in The Big Sort, an even more insidious trend has been taking place during that period which is just as divisive. He calls the phenomenon The Big Sort.
Some of its characteristics include the clustering of college degree-holders in particular cities, reversing a trend towards an even spread across American cities; the growth of homogeneous mega-churches in new suburbs, built for "people like us"; and the targeting by marketers towards like-minded "image tribes." In a brief interview, Bishop speaks of the writing of his new book:
Q. Isn't the whole lesson of the 2008 election that the country is sick of this "red" and "blue" way of thinking?
A. No question. People -- especially Americans -- hate disagreement. That's why they put themselves in churches, neighborhoods, and clubs where they easily find agreement. It's interesting, however, that when pollsters ask about compromise, most Democrats and Republicans believe their side has given enough -- that it's time for the other side to see the error of their ways. We all seem to think it's the other side that's causing the problems. So, yes, there's a lot to talk about the end of partisanship. We just don't see anybody changing neighborhoods."
Q. Are you saying 2008 will be a repeat of 2000 and 2004?
A. There's no telling, of course. But already you can see The Big Sort at work in the primaries. The maps of Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Missouri in the Democratic primary are all deeply marked by geographic segmentation. Senator Barack Obama won the traditional Democratic strongholds in the cities. Senator Hillary Clinton won the communities that voted Republican in the last several presidential elections.
